Description
This bike was well-loved, ridden and maintained by my father Roy until he passed away in 2019. Since then, it has been stored covered over in a brick garage. It has not been started or had maintenance work done since 2019, but would run with a little attention.
ABOUT THIS EXAMPLE
Written by independent inspector
A VDI Check for this 1973 bike shows a date of first registration of February 2006 and 5 previous keepers until coming to the current owner in May 2019.
Mileage at the most recent MOT in March 2018 was 13, 378 miles. There were no advisories.
The bike is clearly a US import and it still has the accoutrements one would have found on the bike from new in the USA.
Finished in black and red, it is quite a timepiece with its original high bars, chrome grab rail and single chrome mirror.
There is very minor oil weep at the base of the cylinder, but this is not unusual on Tridents and may be due to being unused. Every Trident I have ever inspected showed a bit of engine oil here and there.
The mileage reads 14, 983 miles which is 1, 605 miles since its MOT. This is very good use for a classic bike.
ABOUT THE TRIUMPH TRIDENT T150V
The 750cc Triumph Trident was made by Triumph Engineering from 1968 to 1975.
Created to meet the demands of the US market, it was the last major motorcycle developed by Triumph at Meriden. The Trident was part of Triumph's plan to extend the model range beyond its 650cc parallel twins.
Alongside the Honda CB750 and the later Kawasaki triples, the Trident brought a new level of sophistication to motorcycles. While the Trident T150 prototype was ready in 1965, the launch was delayed for years by a cosmetic redesign, so its eventual introduction was overshadowed by the stylistically more modern 1969 Honda CB750.
The Honda CB750 outsold the Trident in period and is nowadays regarded as the first superbike, despite the Triumph Trident debuting ahead of the Honda by a few weeks.
The T150V was a model enhancement to the Trident T150 and featured front disc brakes and a 5-speed gearbox. It also featured a longer silencer, and the steering damper on the earlier models was removed. Although production may have ended in 1974, they continued to be sold in 1975. The model was superseded by the T160 model in 1975.
The T160 triple was made for just one model year (approximately 7, 500 examples manufactured) and is now quite sought after when in good order.
Tridents are not easy to run or maintain, so buying a nice one to start with is important.
